Seal.



: D. DAVIS.

SEAL. 4 APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7,1910.

Patented May 30, 1911.

entries.

STATES PATENT UFFTCE.

, DON D. DAVIS, OF .SAGINAW, MICHIGAN.

SEAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DON D. DAVIS, a citizen of the Unit-ed States, residing at Saginaw, in the county of Saginaw and State of Michigan, have invented a newand useful Improvement in Seals, of which the follow ing is a specification.

My invention relates to seals, and particularly to that class commonly termed car seals, usually employed to indicate whether the door of a freight car has been opened or tampered with while the car is in transit, but.

is also capable of use as a seal to be applied to any container or article to which it may .be attached, and which it is desired shall not be opened or tampered with save by the proper parties.

One object of this invention is to simplify and improve seals for theseiand other pur- Another object is the provision of a seal of this character which, when once locked, cannot accidentally come apart, a further object being to provide a seal which must be torn or cut apart beyondthe possibility of repair when the closure to which it is applied is opened, or the parts separated,

thereby preventing its reemployment.

To these and other ends my invention consists in certain novel features and combinations, such as will be more fully described hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the following claims.

' In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a portion of a freightcar, equipped with my invention, Fig. 2, isa perspective view of my invention, prior to'its application, and partly broken away, Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the arrangement of the various parts of the invention justprior to locking, Fig. 4c is a similar view showing the seal when locked,

-Fig. 5 is a cross-section through the fastenj ing means, taken on line ;1

y of Fig. 6, looking in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 6 is a cross-section through the fastener, taken on line 2-.-2 of Fig. 4-, and Fig. 7 is a cross section on line m-w of Fig. 6, looking in the direction of the arrow. v

The seal comprises a flexible metallic tie or strap 1 designed to connect the movable and stationary parts of the structure to which it is applied, or the movable parts of an article. or what not. In the present in stance, I have shown such. strap aspassing through the eyes of a'ha sp .usual slidable car door 3, and through the eye of a staple 4.- aliixcd to the car, adjacent the-door, the eyes in the hasp adapted to register with that of the staple. The strap is bent intermediate its ends so that they depend in two plies from the hasp and staple. The device may thus operate as a lock to prevent the accidental disconnection of the hasp and staple, as well as a seal to indicate whether the door has been opened.

Patented May 30, 1911.

It will be understood that other methods of attaching the invention to a car door. container or article may be, employed One endof the strap is perforated, as at 5, to accommodate a bolt or stud 6 borne by the strap at or near its opposite cud and preferably projecting from an ear 7 extending laterally from the strap. H

To seal the car against unauthorized intrusion, one arm of the strap 1 is twisted, as at S, and the ear 7 carrying the bolt or stud 6, is bent upwardly, as in Figs. 3 and at, so that said bolt or studmay pass through the perforation, after which the free end of the stud or bolt is entered in the single opening of a socket 9 formed in or secured to the strap at that end adjacent the stud or bolt, though it may be otherwise located if desired. The socket is iinperforate except at that end entered by the stud or bolt, which latter is provided with a head 10, preferably having a beveled periphery 11, and terminating in a square shoulder at its point of connection with the stem of the stud or bolt. As the head of the stud is pressed manually into the socket, its beveled periphery crowds aside or spreads apart the free ends of a. series of resilient locking fingers or prongs 12 circularly arranged about the orifice of the socket, and extending inwardly, partway toward the closed end of the socket, said locking fingers being constricted to form a frusto-oonical passageway. The stud or bolt is longer than the prongs, and continued pressure on the stud forces the head of'the latter past the inner ends of the prongs, which immediately close or snap toward each other around the shank or body of the stud, and take behind or set against the square shoulder forming the under face of the head 'to prevent thewithdrawal, accidental or otherwise, of the stud, and thereby lock the stud in sealedv position to prevent the. separation of thetwo plies of the strap or. tie. Owing to thearrangement off the prongs. about the stud, and their constriction toward a common center, any force exerted are:

to separate the socket and stud will operate tocause the prongs or locking fingers to hold-the stud more tightly in place to pre ventthefbreaking of the seal, nor can access behadto the interior of the socket, since the stud closes the only opening therein.

Said socket is shown as carried by a second v the str p)} With the socket extending across.

ear 13 projecting laterally from the strap opposite the stud-carrying ear 7 and when in use, said ear 13 is bent to lie aloout paral lel with the ear 7 (said ears and 13 when in use lying at substantially right angles to seals to be packed in small compass for shipment, the strap also being less liable to kink or tangle than is\ the wire tie commonly used. To break the seal, the strap must be severed, thereby rendering itunfit for further use, it being impracticable to pullihe ends apart for the purpose of the re'e'm-r ployment of the seal for deception or otherwise.

Changes may be made .in the form and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit and scope of m invent ion.

What I claimas new is 1. A seal comprising a strap having oppositely projecting flexible ears ator near one end thereof, to'be bent at about right angles to the strap'and aboutparallel with each other, the'opposite end of the strap being held between the ears, a stud on one ear to pass through a perforation in said opposite end of the strap, and a locking socket on the opposite ear into which the stud; is K entered to lock the ends of the strap to gether. e 2. A seal comprising a metallic strap hav ing laterally projecting ears designed to be bent to lie aboutparallel with each (ithQif'J-J and at right- .angles to the strap, an inwardlyprojecting stud. carried by one ear to pass through a perforation in the opposite-end of the strap, and a locking socket on the op.- posite ear, said socket-extending across the; space between the ears, and-1n which socket the stud is entered to lock the ends oithe strap together.

3. A car seal comprising a flexible strap it having oppositely-located ears adjacent one end thereof and bent upwardly at about right-angles to the strap,- a locking stud on one of the ears, the opposite end of the strap,

being twisted to register an aperture therein with the" stud,- and a locking socket on the opposite ear, in which the stud is entered, to lock the two ends of the strap together.

44A car seal comprising a flexible strap having oppositely located ears ad acent one end thereoii and bent upwardly at about right-angles to the strap, a-locking' stud on one of the ears to pass through an aperture in the opposite end ofthe strap, and a locking socket fastened to the opposite ear in which the stud is entered, said socket comprising a hollow body portion having an orifice for the accommodation of the stud, and.- a series of locking fingers arranged about the orifice within the body to prevent,

the withdrawal or" the stud.

"In testimony whereof, I have signed my name, in the presence of witnesses.

- DON DAVIS.

Witnesses: I

F. A. KELLEY,

DOMINIC SANZONE. 

